In the ward of Jiangnan Hospital.

Jiang Xueying keenly noticed that Zhao Hao seemed to have a different opinion on Li Zhi's article, so she asked softly: "Then may I ask, brother, what kind of court do you hope to have?"

"Zhao Hao thought to himself, of course I hope for socialism, but the conditions are not met.

After a moment of silence, he looked deeply at his most trusted assistant and felt that he needed to let her know his thoughts clearly, so as to avoid going against each other in the future.

So he closed the memorial and said in a deep voice: "I hope there will be a powerful state machine to protect us."

"Oh" Jiang Xueying was stunned. She didn't expect that her opinions were so different from her brother's.

"Sister, we can't just focus on the small place of Jiangnan." Then Zhao Hao said earnestly:

"The Ming Dynasty has two capitals and thirteen provinces, not just Jiangnan. Without a strong state machine, how can we take from the rich and give to the poor? The emphasis on the supreme way of doing nothing will only make the rich richer and the poor poorer in the Ming Dynasty. When that happens, internal and external troubles will arise, and no egg will remain intact when the nest is overturned."

"I didn't expect this, brother, you have a comprehensive view." Jiang Xueying showed a look of sudden realization. "We really can't just think about ourselves."

"Let's look further ahead. As I have repeatedly emphasized, the world has entered the Age of Exploration. The Spanish and Portuguese have divided the world, and the Dutch, British, and French are ready to make a move. If we miss this era, the Ming Dynasty will always be in a passive situation and will no longer be the glory of the Celestial Empire."

"Moreover, the many seemingly incurable diseases of the Ming Dynasty will all have hope of being cured as we enter a new era. How can the Ming Dynasty last another 200, 400 or even longer? The only way is to make ourselves great again, with the sun and the moon in the sky forever shining on the five continents and four oceans. There is no other way."

"We are already behind in this competition and we must catch up. But it is definitely not as simple as just trying to open up sea trade." Zhao Hao said firmly:

"Our ships must not only have cargo, but also cannons and muskets. We must have a well-equipped and well-trained navy, and the support of the government and the public at home, in order to protect our shipping routes and drive those Westerners out of our sphere of influence."

The more Zhao Hao spoke, the more excited he became. His entire body seemed to be glowing, and Jiang Xueying was intoxicated by his sight.

This is what she is most obsessed with Brother Zhao. She thinks Zhao Hao is neither a scholar nor a businessman, but an idealist who can reach the top.

The brilliance of his ideals, which cannot be purchased by any amount of wealth, makes people dazzled and willing to follow in his footsteps.

As Zhao Hao said, the Age of Discovery was never about the free trade or market competition that later generations talked about, but about state capitalism with cannons.

Not only was the British Empire, which gave birth to the Industrial Revolution in another time and space during the Age of Exploration, it was not the free, enlightened and honest country portrayed by later generations.

On the contrary, it is a bureaucratic group and a powerful country with exploding military spending, endless wars, interventionist policies, high taxes, high debt, and extreme trade protectionism. It is definitely not a democratic country.

It was not until it completed the Industrial Revolution and became the Empire on which the sun never sets that it suddenly began to vigorously promote liberalism. Its purpose was nothing more than to deceive those backward countries that followed its example, to give up trade protection, open up their domestic markets, and become a dumping ground for its products. And to destroy their national industries so that it could continue to dominate.

With these lessons learned, how could Zhao Hao commit childish mistakes again?

Therefore, he knew very well that what the Ming Dynasty needed at this time was a strong regime that could protect the development of industry and commerce internally and smoothly allocate national resources, and externally protect territorial security and overseas expansion.

It seems that this is very similar to the state capitalism led by Comrade Lenin, but the system hundreds of years later is also not applicable to the Ming Dynasty today.

Therefore, Zhao Hao dared not say which system was most suitable for the Ming Dynasty. He could only try his best to do what he could to promote the development of the Ming Dynasty's economy.

Isn't it said that the economic base determines the superstructure? Then let the Ming Dynasty's system evolve with the development of the economy and see if a system that meets the requirements of the times can be generated endogenously.

That day, Jiang Xueying asked him one last question. "Brother, do you believe that the court will become what you hope it will be?"

"Zhao Hao looked out the window silently. There was a plum tree there, and the first red plum blossom of this winter had bloomed.

There's never any guarantee of this kind of thing.

It was already the end of winter, the sky was gloomy, and a light north wind was blowing. Even in the south of the Yangtze River, it was quite cold.

In the office room of Kunshan County Government.

The doorman, Yu Men, was hiding in the gatehouse with a few fellow Beijingers, warming themselves by the fire and chatting.

These servants who followed the young master south are now scattered around Suzhou, managing affairs.

Some of them help the young masters manage their private businesses, mainly the schools, weapons, steel research institutes, etc. under the name of Singularity Investments, which have nothing to do with the Jiangnan Group.

Some of them work at the Jiangnan Group's headquarters or in various companies. In addition to fulfilling their duties as employees, they also secretly act as the master's eyes and ears to prevent anyone from deceiving their superiors and deceiving Zhao Hao.

Others, like Yu Men, worked in the county government office and helped Mr. Zhao run around.

Therefore, it was rare for everyone to see each other, and this time it happened that seven or eight of them had returned to the county government office, so they gathered in the gatehouse and chatted.

There was a wire mesh on the charcoal basin, with a dozen sizzling chicken wings roasting on it.

Qi Ren, the quartermaster of the Ordnance Research Institute, was brushing seasonings onto the chicken wings with a boar-bristle brush. The aroma made the villagers drool.

Yu Men held the teacup and said jokingly, "This thing is so convenient to use, but if the young master knew that you asked the blacksmith who made gun barrels to make a barbecue grill for you, I'm afraid he would have to put you on the grill to test you."

"What are you talking about? We are doing this for scientific research." Qi Ren pouted and said, "This is all part of the experiment, understand?"

"Nonsense, roasting chicken wings is also an experiment." The villagers naturally didn't believe it.

"Of course. Don't underestimate this grill. The iron wire on it is not something that can be made anywhere." Qi Ren said proudly, "Have you ever seen such soft, tough, and rust-resistant iron wire before?"

"Yes, I have never seen it before." The villagers suddenly realized, "If we use another iron rack, it will rust after one use and it will be impossible to use it a second time."

"Hehe, there are many things you haven't seen." Qi Ren stopped talking and said, "But I can't tell you, otherwise it will be a leak."

"Go to hell," the villagers spat, "I think you don't know either."

"Eating chicken wings won't stop your mouths." Qi Ren rolled his eyes and said, "Okay."

"I'll have my share. I'm coming." The villagers started scrambling for the grilled chicken wings.

Yu Men finally grabbed one and was blowing on it to cool it down when he saw his cousin Yu Xu, who had been watching outside, come in.

"Brother, there's an old man outside who claims to be our grandfather."

ps second update. Ask for monthly votes